Summer Recap: Francisco’s Best Performances
As school ended in early June, I set out to cover a plethora of events from high school tournaments (Fairfax, Saddleback Valley Christian, etc.) to major AAU tournaments that were being played out throughout the Los Angeles area—including the grand finale in Las Vegas.
In that time period there were a number of fine performances, but the five below caught our eye as the best of the best on the national scene.
Best Performances (Top Five)
Louis King (Columbus, NJ/ Hudson Catholic)
2018, SF, 6-foot-8, 200 pounds
Joel’s Take: King put on a show with his effortless 41-point onslaught at the Fab48 Tip-Off Challenge versus Texas Pro. His jump shot was on-point throughout the contest and he mixed in a few nifty drives to the cup. Although teammate Cameron Reddish has a much more ballyhooed reputation, King always plays with purpose in mind at all times.
Kihei Clark (Woodland Hills, CA/ Taft)
2018, PG, 5-foot-8, 150 pounds
Joel’s Take: Clark came into the Nike Peach Jam with little fanfare outside of Southern California. However, after being a catalyst in leading his Oakland Soldier team to a surprising victory over Team Takeover, the UC Davis commit became a national name as he exhibited exceptional playmaking skills.
Zion Williamson (Columbia, SC/ Spartenburg)
2018, WF, 6-foot-6, 240 pounds
Joel’s Take: The 6-foot-6 burly Williamson gets most of his notoriety from his abundance of eye-popping slam dunks and swats. However, if you watch an entire game, there is much more to his game than a bunch of earth-shattering dunks. Williamson is an exceptional passer, rebounder, and his quickness and bounce is startling to say the least.
Anfernee Simons (Maitland, FL/ Edgewater)
2018, PG, 6-foot-4, 165 pounds
Joel’s Take: As the FAB48 progressed, I became a major fan of the all-around skills of Louisville-commit Simons. Although most scouting services project him as a shooting guard, he is an evolving point guard with a dazzling combination of shooting and playmaking skills.
Mathew Van Komen (Pleasant Grove)
2019, C, 7-foot-2, 230 pounds
Joel’s Take: At the West Coast Elite Summer Classic the much-anticipated match-up of Bol Bol and up-and-coming Mathew Van Komen turned out to be quite the surprise as Van Komen dominated in most facets of the game. Bol spent most of the time launching 3s and not impacting the game as expected. Van Komen on the other hand impacted the game with his rim protection, rebounding, and sprinting the floor for easy buckets